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Chris Gerhard's Weblog

At last the CTC comments on the Highway code.

At last something from the CTC
about the attack on cycling being undertaken by the Drivers Standards
agency: from the weekly newsletter they will email their members from
the 4th May 2007 edition:

Battlecontinues
for cyclist-friendly Highway Code

A revised draft of the Highway Code has not properly
addressed the concerns of 11,000 cyclists who last year joined our
campaign to have the Code re-worded. The original draft told cyclists
to ‘use cycle facilities…where provided’.
Following our campaigning efforts, the revised wording, issued on
28th March, reads: ‘Use cycle routes and cycle
facilities…wherever possible, as they can make your journey
safer.’ The new wording does not address our original concern
that insurance companies will use the wording of the new Code as an
excuse to reduce the amount of compensation they pay if a motorist
hits a cyclist that has chosen to use a road rather than a nearby
cycle facility. We very much hope that the Government will see sense
and amend the wording to say “use cycle facilities where they
help with your journey” – thus leaving the decision at
the cyclist’s discretion. If it does not, we will seek to
persuade the Lords to vote it out, or may ultimately initiate a
Judicial Review against it.

We
would like to hear about incidents where a cyclist has been injured
while using a cycle facility, or has suffered verbal or physical
abuse, or hassle from the police, as a result of using the road
rather than a nearby cycle facility. Please email
adam.coffman@ctc.org.uk